Dream Team Extra: Round 12

 

I can’t say I enjoyed the first bye round. I’m not sure that many did, with injuries and late withdrawls compounding the bye-rested players for many a Dream Team out there. Commiserations if you had just traded in Sandi or Zaka as both are set for decent stints on the sideline. Further commiserations if you traded out Scotland, who’s set for a miraculous return this round. Ah well, that’s the nature of the fantasy game we play! There are some interesting news snips to chew over this week, so let’s check out some of the stories!

 

Crows Nested?

Fresh off a bye, Brent Sanderson has come out  saying that the Crows will be managing their players’ training loads during the week without ‘giving players matches off’. However, in the same breath, he left the door open to the possibility of resting players. It looks like he intends to keep Adelaide’s momentum going and he seems reluctant to tinker with his winning formula, but just keep an eye out on their team lists with games against GWS (R16) and GCS (R23) to come. Sure, this is long-range crystal-balling at best, but it might pay to save a trade or two for the DT Grand Final in case the likes of Thommo and Danger are rested against the Suns.

 

Turn On Your Side-Beams

Like Batman and Robin, the forward line combo of Sidebottom and Beams is THE must-have pairing in your side. They are the top-averaging forwards, both on 112 ppg, and are the seventh (Beams) and eighth (Sidey) highest-ranked overall point-scoring Dream Team players. Playing second fiddle to Pies superstars Pendlebury and Swan, they rarely cop a heavy tag and are always involved in and around stoppages, making them key ball-movers for the Pies. Both are capable of posting massive scores, which is a rarity among forwards this year. Grab them while you can as there’s no guarantee that they’ll retain MID/FWD DPP in 2013. Okay, okay, enough waffle – just get them in your side, regardless of whether it’s in the MIDs or FWDs.

 

Toed-Out

Wow, now Sandi’s other foot has been inflicted with the infamous turf toe! You have to feel for the guy as well as for the coaches who traded him in last week. There’s been plenty of twatter from journos questioning the big fella’s AFL future, with concerns focused on the issues he’s having with his ginormous feet. As a DT coach, I’d be wary about Sandi’s durability, but as a footy fan I hope he gets himself right and back to his bullocking best in 2013. Again, that thins the ranks of premium rucks for 2012, leaving only Cox and Maric as the standouts. My smokey targets are either Griffin, who averaged 89 last season when filling in for Sandi, or Mummy, who is likely to dip to around $350k in R14-15.

 

Miracle Cures

I’m sure this tweet from Brett Ratten’s presser last Tuesday caught all Scotland coaches by surprise…

I’m all for transparency and Ratts followed up by saying that Scotland’s calf injury wasn’t as bad as they initially diagnosed. Great news for those who held on to him, but bad news for us who gave him the flick in anticipation of a 3-4 week absence! I could carry on like a pork chop at this point, but I’m getting to the stage where I check my team every Thursday night just to see what misery the weekend will bring to my Dream Team… If it’s any consolation, Carrots is included in the squad that headed out west and will be at a very enticing value price-point for a R14 or R15 upgrade. The latest twatter is that both have been training well for tonight’s game, although a late withdrawl of either (or both) is not inconceivable depending on how they go in their final training session today.

 

Injury Update

As mentioned in the prelude, Zaharakis is out for 4-5 weeks with a quad problem, so best bet is to swap him out if you have an LTI trade to spare. Pendles is still 2 weeks away, but definitely a ‘hold’. Goodes is 1-2 weeks off and should be cherry ripe for a typical barnstorming run home, given a game or two to regain match fitness. If you were tempted to prematurely downgrade to young Swan Tom Mitchell, don’t – he’s listed as a 1-2 week out with knee tendonitis. Notables down for a test are: Heater Shaw and Corey Enright.

 

Pick Me! Pick Me!

GWS resume this week and most of the regular rooks will hopefully be named tonight. In defence it’ll be Darley, Bugg and the on-the-bubble Shaw, as well as the usual suspects Ellis and Morris. It’s a bit trickier in the middle with plenty looking to flick Magner, so top downgrade target Gibson is in the mix with Greene, J-Mac, Shiel and the Horse. Giles is back in the ruck. Amongst the forwards are Treloar, Adams, Dickson and Hall.

 

Anyways, that’s the rub for this week. Hopefully you’ve got a an upgrade or three to pull this round, so share your thoughts and feel free to add any news bits, gossip, rumours, rants, raves, etc below. See ya next Thursday for another bout of media trawling and good luck this weekend!

 

Any questions, suggestions, general chit-chat or requests for next week’s Extra? Hit me up on the Tweetvine: @TeeTeeDT